TWO Hull companies have teamed up to supply the British Government with vital safety equipment as aid workers fight the spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone.
Arco is shipping 100,000 suits a month to the disease-hit country from its National Distribution Centre in west Hull.
The gear, which has been requested by the Department for International Development in a seven-figure contract, will be used by 750 British troops and other workers on the ground to protect them from infection.
It has been designed by fellow Hull firm Microgard.
Ebola, which is spread when people come into contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, has claimed the lives of thousands of people across western Africa this year.
Thomas Martin, Arco joint managing director, said: "To get to this stage, it has taken the best part of six weeks - you might think it's a long time, but I think it is pretty impressive.
"They couldn't have done it any faster and done a professional job.
"This gear will be used whenever they are in an environment where there is an infected person."
The Government had initially ordered 50,000 suits a month but stepped up the scale of production as the size of the crisis became clear.
The equipment, which feature a disposable sealed suit, gloves, a hood, visor and respirator will be driven down to RAF Kemble in Gloucestershire and flown to Sierra Leone in cargo planes.
Initial shipments are coming from a stock pile in Hull, but after those have been exhausted, they will be shipped directly by Arco from a manufacturing site in China.
The deal is set to last for five months and the first flight left on Monday.
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